7 Times Vince McMahon Wrongly Thought His Top WWE Stars Were Finished

6. CM Punk

CM Punk may have held the WWE Title for 434 days but was he ever really pushed as the star of the promotion during that time period? He may have been the Champ, but there was always something else going on that got higher billing/more promotion than his own matches or angles. Regardless of that fact, Punk was still a major player and a top star. He brought it in the ring and, importantly, made the company a lot of money, particularly with merchandise sales (at one point he and Cena were neck and neck in that department). When his title reign ended at the 2013 Royal Rumble, however, something happened... Punk had a couple more high profile matches against The Rock and The Undertaker before taking a much-needed vacation. When he returned, it was clear that he wouldn't be featuring as heavily as he had in the past. His summer programme with Brock Lesnar was a highlight but aside from that there wasn't much to shout out. Seen it all before programmes with Ryback and Chris Jericho, along with a hopeless feud with Curtis Axel, showed that Vince and WWE had maybe lost faith in Punk. By the time he decided to walk out of the company, Punk was in the beginning of a totally go-nowhere feud with Kane. Although he's now retired as a wrestler, Punk has been making waves in other ways since leaving WWE. He's regularly in the news for everything from signing a deal to fight in the UFC to telling Hulk Hogan on Twitter that he'll knock him out if he talks about hockey. There was clearly still a lot for Punk to do and accomplish in the WWE. He wasn't done, but Vince probably thought that he was.